Process of desulfurizing ores.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT HllBNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF DEBULFURIZING ORES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

Application filed December 18, 1906. Serial No. 848,452.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be itknown that I, RoBEnrHi'mNnR, a sub ect ofthe Emperor of Germany,and resident of the borou h ofManhattan, city, county, and State 0 NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Processes ofDesulfurizing Ores, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process of desulfurizing ores, and has for itsobject to accomplish this result in an efficient and complete fashionwithin a relatively short time and with an economical expenditure offuel.

7 line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The furnace shown in the drawings also contains certain features ofnovelty which, however, are not claimed in the present application butin a companion case filed concurrently herewith.

The furnace, shown invthe drawings comprises a settingA made ofbrickwork, or other suitable material, and provided with a grate B,above which is the combustion chamber 0 connected with the rearwardlyleading horizontal flue D; at the rear end of said flue is an uptake E,from which three tiers of horizontal flues E, E, E lead forward atdifferent levels to the stack or chimney E preferably each" of the fluesE, E, E is subdivided by partitions, as shown in Fig: 2. The top'H ofthe flue -D is preferably made of metal, or other material, which is agood conductor of heat, and this top forms the bottom of an ore chamberI, the ceiling of which is formed by the bottom of the next flue E.

. In a similar manner an ore chamber I is formed between the top H ofthe flue E and the bottom of the next flue E and again a third, orechamber I between the top H of The plates forming the top walls of theore chambers may be supported in any suitable manner, as, by means ofbrackets or arches G, which I prefer to rovide with openings G so as toavoid the f rmationof pockets in which gases might be tra ed. Above theflue E are located three ad itional ore chambers I", I and Irespectively, having bottoms H H H By means of dampers F, F, F, the pathof the combustion gases may be varied. With the damper arrangement shownin Fig. 1, the combustion gases pass through the lower portion of theuptake E, then forward through the flu'es E, rearward through the fluesE, upward in the upper ortion of the u take E, and forward throug theflues E. f damper F is swung upward so as to close the forward end ofthe flues E the combustion gases will pass only through the V,lower-most flues E and not through the flues? the flue E and the bottomof the flue E E, E by closing the damper F and opening the dampers F andF the combustion gases would be made to pass through the flues E and E,but not through'fiues E finally, by

leaving the dampers F, 'F in the osition shown, and opening the damperF", t e combustion gases will be caused to pass entirely through theuppermost flues E and not through the flues E, E. v

. J in Fig. 2 indicates an openin through which the ore may bechargedinto t e up ermost chamber 1 At the opposite en of said chamberis provided an opening J 3 leading to the chamber I below. From thischamber, at the op osite end, an openin J" leads to the next 0 amberbelow, and t on a ain there are 0 enings J and J through w ich themateria may reach the chambers;

I and I respectively. These openings are within the chambers themselves.nection from the chamber 1 to the lowermost chamber I is referableffected by means of two channe s J, .J ocated in the walls of thefurnace (see Fig. 2). The'open- .ings J, J, J J, J may be closed bymeans of sliding plugs K projecting from the walls of the furnace, andadapted to be operated in any suitable manner. So far as the .10 enin sJ, 'J, J J are concerned, these p ugs are located between arches G sothat when the plugsareshoved in, as shown in The con-.

Fig. 2, they, together with the intervening arches G, will entirelyclose the openin s by which one chamber communicates with the next. Theplugs can be withdrawn entirely, in which case the opening from whichthey 'are removed wfll afford a clearance'for the introduction of toolsto either stir the ore or push it toward the opening so as to cause itto drop into the next chamber below. v The chamber l is preferablyprovided with such openings and plugs, not only at the sideadjacent tothe opening J, but at the other side a so. is completely desulfurized bythe time it. reaches thchamber I, the plugs K can be withdrawn on bothsides and the ore wi l be removed at one side by means of tools insertedat the opposite side.

It will be seen that the path of the combustion gases is entirelyseparate from the ore chambers, so that the combustion gases do not comein contact with the ore, but heat it simply by transmission through thewalls of theiuinace and lines.

As indicated at the beginning of this speci fication, I employ apressure below atmospheric pressure during the treatment; for thispurpose each of the chambers has an exhaust or suction flue which may beconnected with a fan, or other device'for withdrawing air and gases fromthe ore chambers, and for creating a low pressure there-in,

L indicates the three exhaust channels leading from the chambers I, l,P, respectively, saidchannels being bent, as indicated in'Fig. .3, inorder to clear the u take E. Since the chambers 1 ,1 l are a ove the utake E, the exhaust channels L of these 0 ambers may be straight, asindicated in: Figs. 1 and 2.

In operation the ore is first brought into the chamber'l and is heated,it being advis able in some cases to open the damper Frfor this purpose,so that the combustion gases will pass directly through the flu-es Ethus securing a more ener etic beating operation at"'the start. It willbe understood that while the gases evolved from the ore are he causedtofall on the next floor H; by then removing the said plugs K entirelyaccessmay be had tothepre on'the floor H to spread it'there'on. ;Theplugs are :then reinserted, and the treatment goes "on in the chamber1*, Thus the ore may be passed Thus, ifit should be found that the oreceases successively from one chamber to the next, e5

remaining in each of them the suitable length of time, this depending onthe character of the ore and on the amount of heat available. 4 Whilethe ore is in one of the chambers, that particular chamber is connectedwith the fan, or other exhausting device, so that the operation proceedsat a pressure under at mospheric pressure, air as well as the gasesevolved during the desulfurizing recess escaping through the channel Lor connected with that particular chamber. Of course, after the materialhas passed into the chamber 1 and while it is being treatedtherein, anew charge maybe brought into the chamber i and the apparatus may beworked continuously, the various chambers containing ore indifferentstages of desulfurizationr I have found that when Working at a pressureunder atmospheric pressure, as above described, the results obtained arevery satisfactory, being secured a very short time and with a relativelylow consumption of fuel.

According'to the quality of the ore, the process is completed forpractical purposes after a varying number of stages. 5."

nus, in some cases, the desired degrees of desulfuri-t cation may not beobtained until the last chamber 1 is reached, but in other cases thiscondition ma r already exist in the chamber 1. Accordingly, thedesiiliurized material will be removed from the chamber 1, or thechamber I, as the case may be.

Speaking in a general way, it will be seen that the amount of heat towhich. the material is subjected increases progressively from onechamber to the next, since the ore gets nearer and nearer to thecombustion chamher 0. I

When operating continuously the variousdampers will generally be in theosition shown inl'fig. i, but this depends entirely on the character ofthe ore. Some ores might require less heat, in which case the comhus- 1gases could he excluded the upper i'iues the of the operation,

or even from the fines E it.

I'claim as my inventions l. The process of desuliurizing ores, which11-5 consists in subjecting the ore ts heat while keeping it out ofdirect contact with the heatagent and exerting-suction to withdraw gasesfrom the chamber containing the ore while keeping said chamber otherwiseclosed to prevent the entrance of any material amount of air, thentransferrin the partly deeulfurized ,ore to another camber and there treting it in the'same manner as-during the nrst stage, but at a highertempera 1 ture.- I 2d The process of desulfurising ores, which consistsin subjecting the ore to heat while keeping it outofid'iiaect cbntactwith the heatmim in the presence of two subscribing witing agent an}?exflrting'suction t0 'witlllldraw nesses. 1 v.

gases from t e c amber containin t ore r while keeping said chamberotherwie closed ROB f HUBNER' I 5 to prevent the" pntrancepf anymaterial- Witnesses;

amount of'air. JOHN. LOTKA,

In testimony whereof I have signed my Y J0H N A.'KEHLENBECK.

